Foster Parent Adoption

FOSTER PARENT ADOPTIONS:

In California, when children are removed from their parents’ care by Child Protective Services, the children are placed in foster care or with relative caretakers under the supervision of the Dependency Court. After parents have been given reunification services for the required period of time, if the child has not been reunified with the parents, the court looks at making a permanent plan for the child. The most permanent plan, and therefore the preferred plan, is adoption. The next most permanent plan is guardianship, after which comes long term foster care. The current caretakers, whether they are the foster parents or relative caretakers, usually are considered first as the prospective adoptive parents of the child. Foster parents and relative caretakers are entitled to Adoption Assistance Program benefits throughout the child’s minority when they adopt through the foster care system.

We represent foster parents and relative caretakers who are adopting, or hoping to adopt, through the dependency system. We represent adopting parents to finalize their adoptions. We also represent foster parents and relatives in the Dependency Court as they go through the Dependency Court process.